A former soldier traumatised by service in a war zone has been given a council house yards from one of Britain's busiest tank firing ranges.

Shellshocked Balkans veteran Lee Fry is bombarded with the sound of explosions day and night.

Lee, 34, said yesterday it is making his post traumatic stress disorder worse, bringing back memories of being bombed in Bosnia.

The former Royal Welch Fusilier said: "I couldn't believe it when I realised how close I was.

"One of the sentry posts is just down the road from me and I shudder whenever the exercises start.

"It is just like being in Bosnia again when we were under fire all the time from the rebels, not knowing if we would survive the night's patrol."

Lee is appealing to housing bosses to move him from his bungalow a few hundred yards from the edge of the giant Castlemartin gunnery range - a seven-mile coastal area near Pembroke, West Wales, used for training by units from Britain and other Nato countries.

Blasts from the 60-tonne tanks can be heard up to 25 miles away.

The Ministry of Defence is restricted to firing for 44 weeks a year but this is increasing each year as more regiments are called up to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lee added: "The nightmares have returned because of the noise of jets overhead and the tanks constantly firing near my home. It's just like a sick joke - but I don't find it funny.

"I have appealed to the council but they don't seem to understand my problems."

Lee was only 19 when he served with the UN peace-keeping force in Bosnia.

He was based in Gorodze, where soldiers faced raids from Chechen rebels and Bosnian Serbs and were shelled daily by Serb positions.

Lee was discharged from the Army in 1993 after only three years but says he is still suffering from the post traumatic stress disorder diagnosed later. He blames it for leading to the breakdown of his marriage and two other relationships.

Lee is being helped by the ex-services mental health organisation Combat Stress and has stayed at their residential home in Shropshire.

When he applied to Pembrokeshire county council for a house he asked for a rural location.

Lee, who lives on his own in the isolated village of Castlemartin, said: "I am unemployable and living on £100-a-week benefits.

"I can't afford a car and have a 10-mile round trip to walk to the nearest shops."

Pembrokeshire council said: "When we allocated the bungalow it was in response to him wanting a rural location.

"We are aware of Mr Fry's problems and his post traumatic stress disorder.

"He is on our gold priority list and we are trying to help him find suitable accommodation."